Photographs in the Park (Laurmani)

Chapter 4

Ally and Normani sat in the backyard of Ally's house. Her brother was at band practice, and her parents were at a church function. The two girls sat across from each other with their eyes closed and lips puckered up. Carefully, they moved in closer to each other until their lips met. Ally parted her lips a little, and Normani slipped her tongue in briefly for a quick kiss. Once it was over, the girls leaned back and opened their eyes.

"That was weird," said Normani.

"It was," said Ally.

Normani giggled. "Let's never do that again."

"Definitely," Ally agreed.

Ally's eyes opened, and she realized she was dreaming. It was an event that actually occurred. She and Normani were teenagers. Ally already knew that Normani had a slight interest in girls; she was the only person Normani had told at the time. But, when Ally revealed Normani that she wanted to know what it felt like to kiss a girl, Normani was surprised. She always joked that Ally was the straightest girl she knew, but eventually chalked it up to curiosity because Ally continued to only date boys. Thinking back, Ally felt that experimenting with her best friend probably wasn't the best idea. They were fortunate that it didn't ruin their friendship.

It was storming outside, so it was more than likely the thunder that woke Ally up; but, it was the rummaging going on in another room that kept her up. She climbed off her bed and groggily made her way to Normani's room, where the noise was coming from. She could see the light was on through the cracks around the door. She knocked a couple of times and let herself in.

"Where's Normani?" Ally inquired as she noticed that it was Dinah making the noise.

"I think someone called her and told her something big was going down. She didn't tell me what it was, but I assume it could lead to a big payday," explained Dinah.

"Why are you going through Mani's stuff?" Ally questioned.

"Have you seen these pictures?" Dinah walked over to Normani's laptop and opened it. "She has dozens of pictures of this chick at the park."

"Oh, my God!" Ally gasped. "This is her private stuff. You have no right to be snooping around on her laptop."

"Why would she want Becky when she had all of this?" asked Dinah ignoring Ally's previous statements.

"Dinah, get out of her room!" Ally commanded.

"Fine!" Dinah put back some boxes she took out of Normani's closet and went back to her room as Ally stood by and made sure she did.

In the morning, Normani woke up later than usual. She was out several hours during the night. Since Dinah was away at work, Ally took the opportunity to talk to her friend.

"Dinah needs to find her own place," Ally stated.

"I know, I know. But, remember that we can't just kick her out. According to civil law, we'd have to serve her with an eviction notice, and that could lead to a court battle. It's best to wait until our lease expires," said Normani.

"While you were away last night, she was going through your stuff including your laptop. She was losing it over some pictures of a woman," Ally informed her friend.

Normani sighed, "That woman gets crazier and crazier. I'm going to have to put a lock on my door and change the password to my computer."

"Anyway, did you get anything good last night?" Ally inquired.

"Yes!" Normani said excitedly. "It started out as a domestic violence call, but the husband ended up taking his wife and children hostage. After a few hours, the man let his family go and shot himself in the head on the front yard. It was gruesome."

Ally grimaced. "I don't know how you do it. Don't you ever have nightmares?"

"Nope," said Normani. "The only problem is that some of this stuff gets old. It used to be really exciting to me, but I eventually became desensitized to most stuff. You should come out with me one day."

"No, thank you," said Ally. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but I'm curious. Who is that woman in those pictures?"

Normani didn't answer right away, and Ally could see that she was uncomfortable.

"It's okay. You don't have to answer, but expect to be interrogated by Dinah when she gets home."

Ally's prediction ended up being wrong. Dinah didn't ask about the woman in the pictures. She didn't say anything to Normani at all, which Normani thought was scarier. Dinah was probably plotting to ruin a relationship that didn't exist. The photojournalist was kind of amused at the thought of her ex-girlfriend going crazy over nothing, though.

That night, Normani's eyes creaked open from their closed state as she could feel that her bladder was full. She tried to push herself out of bed to go to the bathroom, but felt herself paralyzed. Hard, she struggled to get her muscles to move, but it felt as if there was an invisible force holding her down. She tried to scream for help, but her vocal cords would not move. The only sound that escaped from her mouth was the sound of air squeezing out from her throat.

What she could move were her eyes. They scanned the room for anything or anyone that could help her or anything or anyone who was trying to hurt her. In the corner of her room by her closet door, she spotted a dark figure that looked human, but she couldn't be sure. Not being able to do anything else, she stared intensely at the figure attempting to detect any movement. To her astonishment, the figure floated closer. It didn't appear to walk. It moved smoothly as if it were gliding. The photojournalist's heart began pounding in her chest as her fear reached unprecedented levels.

In an effort to calm down, she told herself that this was just Dinah trying to scare her or Ally playing a practical joke. But, the figure moved closer and closer to the foot of the bed until what looked like the fabric of the figure's gown touched Normani's bedsheets. Suddenly, the window curtains parted on their own letting moonlight into her room. She had to squint, but she was able to make out the face of the figure standing at the foot of her bed. It was a young lady with long, straight hair. There was a mix of sadness and terror in her eyes. Normani knew she couldn't have been the one to elicit this expression on the woman's face. Something must have happened to her before she entered her room.

Then, the light from the moon became unnaturally bright giving Normani a better view of the young lady's face. The woman stood still as red spots grew slowly at the corners of her mouth. The spots continued to grow to small spheres until those spheres of liquid grew too large to withstand the pull of gravity. As the liquid spilled down the sides of the lady's lips, Normani was able to figure out that it was blood. Tears gushed from the photographer's eyes as she witnessed the horror in front of her. The young lady had opened her mouth allowing blood to flow from her mouth like lava from a volcano.

The woman's eyes began to bulge and she started to make strange sounds as if she were being choked. Her head shook violently as she struggled to breathe. Her skin turned purple. Normani forced air through her throat over and over again until a scream finally escaped. Not much later, Ally and Dinah burst through her bedroom door turning her light on, and the young woman disappeared. Normani found herself able to move again and ran into the arms of her best friend and ex-girlfriend.